Litany of Saints
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Raphael Kalinowski

Polish Discalced Carmelite friar, engineer and saint (1835–1907)

SaintResearchedPolandCarmelitesDocumented cause

Feast: 19 November (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)

Born
1 September 1835
verified
Died
1907
verified
Beatified
22 June 1983
by John Paul II, in Kraków
Canonised
17 November 1991
by John Paul II

Who they were

Józef Kalinowski was born in Vilnius on 1 September 1835, excelled at school under his father, studied agronomy and became an assistant in mathematics at an academy.

Taking part in the Polish rising against the oppressors, he was arrested on 24 March 1864 and sentenced to death, commuted to ten years' forced labour in Siberia, where he suffered much. Freed, he entered the Discalced Carmelites as Raphael of St Joseph and gave the order in Poland a great new impulse.

The miracles

The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.

Why that counted as sanctity

A soldier and Siberian exile who became a Carmelite and renewed his order.

Connected on this site

  • August Czartoryski Blessed
    “Raphael Kalinowski tutored him; the prince turned to the priesthood instead of pursuing the aristocratic life.” — Wikipedia
Sources

Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.

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